This review came at a perfect time for us. My husband had begun talking about learning some French for future ministry and we were thinking about learning French before our holiday. Getting Started with French was just the book we needed.

Getting Started with French is written by William E. Linney and Brandon Simpson. William Linney has written other books in this series -- Getting Started with Latin and Getting Started with Spanish. The next book to be published is Getting Started with Russian.

Getting Started with French teaches French gradually with a systematic approach. The book is structured around the teaching concept of "Teach one concept at a time and let the student master that concept before introducing the next one."

The book has three pages of information about how to use the book. This is a list of tips to help you begin to learn French. This gives information about the structure of the lessons, reminders about pronunciation, information on how grammar is included in the lessons, and tips for conversational skills. There is also information about the exercises in each lesson, composition, and tests and quizzes. There are also some reminders that help you as you work through this book such as staying flexible, scheduling, how much time per day, and self-taught adults.

Getting Started with French has 172 lessons. The first few lessons are just some information about pronunciation, spelling and pronunciation, articles, and gender. All of this is important if you are learning a foreign language especially French. Each lesson teaches a new word. In the lesson is pronunciation tips and exercises. The lessons are short. A few lessons could be done in 15-30 minutes each day. The answers for the exercises are in the back of the book. There are pronunciation recordings for each lesson that can be downloaded.

Getting Started with French is a basic book to get started learning French. It gives you a head start before taking a course, a bit of French to decide if you want to continue studying, or maybe if you want to learn a bit of French before traveling to a French speaking location. This is not a complete French course. This is also designed for self-taught learners.

I have thoughts that this would be something that we could do together as a family. That did not quite go as I had planned. I did it a bit trying to find the French I studied for a semester in college but then my husband took the book and began working on it. My husband has studied foreign languages mainly German and Chinese but he has had not French. He has been working on this the past few weeks.

Here are some comments from my husband regarding this book.

"Unlike many other textbooks, everything you need comes with the purchase of the book. For example, the French audio recordings that accompany the lessons are available for free online. The authors have thought carefully about what independent, self-taught learners need, and the book is designed expressly to meet those needs. One aspect that I found especially helpful is the authors' anticipation of areas that are likely to be confusing or difficult for English speakers. It's so much better, in my opinion, to confront these difficulties head-on instead of waiting until the student develops bad habits or misunderstandings that have to be painfully corrected later! I have not finished the book, but am continuing to use it as I teach myself the language and look forward to making good progress with this excellent guide."

I knew he was enjoying this when I borrowed the book so I could write the review and he was asking me when I would be finished and he could have the book back.

You can read reviews from other members and see how they used this book.